Loch Ness Monster
Fossil Hoax

On the 2nd July 2003 a Mr. Gerald McSorley
came to Loch Ness 2000 and reported finding some bones
on the shore of Loch Ness below the most northerly lay-by
on the A82 road. The material was examined by Adrian Shine
and found to consist of four fossil vertebrae embedded
in a limestone material not found at the loch. It was
felt most likely that the fossil had been exposed in a
marine environment and had been placed at the lay-by in
order to be found. Shine then referred Mr. Mc Sorley to
the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and briefed
the palaeontology department. Here, Dr. Lyall Anderson
determined that the vertebrae were from a plesiosaur and
were about 150 million years old. He confirmed however,
that the matrix was foreign to Loch Ness and contained
evidence of marine borers. Plesiosaur fossils have occasionally
been collected on the Black Isle.

The incident is reminiscent of another plesiosaur fossil
found nearby in 1985. In this case the fossil was a femur
and was found by a tourist who took it to The Australian
Museum in Sydney. It turned out that it had been inadvertently
left by the lochside by a tour guide, Dr. Gordon Williamson,
who used it as a demonstration piece.